Watch: Progressive’s 100th Ad with Flo

Check out Progressive’s latest ad with Flo. This is the 100th commercial featuring the auto insurance company’s iconic, perky saleswoman, played by actress and stand-up comedian Stephanie Courtney. 

In it, you get to meet Flo’s family, “Klumps” style (all of them portrayed by Courtney herself).

The folks from AdAge say that the commercial would be a complete failure if not for the years of goodwill Flo has built up on our TV sets since she first appeared, in 2008.  Remember the “tricked out name tag?” 

“The fact of the matter is, Flo is now part of the American cultural fabric,” writes AdAge’s Ken Wheaton.  “Prior to 2005, if I’d written that a car-insurance spokescharacter was a recognizable part of the American cultural fabric, you wouldn’t have let me behind the wheel of a car.”

But Flo kicked off an advertising trend that inspired, among other things, All-State’s “Mayhem,” and is partly responsible for Progressive’s huge growth in popularity between 2008 and 2012. 

You can watch many of Progressive’s TV commercials here.

Here’s #100: 

This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2014.